Tag: aging

I need a reminder now and then that getting older is a good thing. I found one in Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan, an extraordinary documentary about her retirement from the New York City Ballet. Here’s a piece I wrote about it for The Huffington Post — Wendy […]

Toward the end of one of my play productions a few years back, the actresses and I were having one last get together before we said our goodbyes (none of whom were Cameron Diaz, by the way, in case there’s any chance that needs clarifying). […]

People have been telling me for a long time that I look young for my age, but that means something a lot different when you’re 35 and look 27 than when you’re 43 and look 38. Besides, who’s to say what 38 looks like when plenty of 38-year-olds look 33…or 23…or 43, for that matter? It’s all subjective anyway. The truth is, I have no idea how old I look these days. I just know it’s not young and I’m struggling with it more than I like to admit.

Situation / Trigger

Looking in the mirror

Negative Thought

I don’t look young anymore.

Anxiety Level (1-10)

8

Evidence For

My skin is covered in spots – brown ones here, white ones there. On my forearms they’re all gathered together, forming a big blotch that pretty much covers the whole area. I fancy that, from afar, it looks like a tan, which still isn’t that great of a look when the rest of me is white as ghost. It’s also crepey in places, which up until recently I didn’t think happened to women under 60.

I have smoker’s lines around my lips. I quit smoking cigarettes 20 years ago, but it wasn’t until 2009 that I quit smoking weed (not because it was making me anxious and depressed, but because that’s when I noticed the lines).

Just in case they’re not visible enough, the smoker’s lines on my mouth are punctuated by parentheses that beg me everyday to rethink the promise I made to myself to never fill my face with poison.

I have laugh lines around my eyes (which I actually don’t mind).

Evidence Against

Some of my skin is smooth and unblemished.

I feel young. That has to come across in how I walk, how I gesture, and pretty much every other way I use my body to move and express myself.

What’s More Likely

Parts of my body look like they’ve aged more than others.

Alternative Thought / Positive Affirmation

Anxiety Level (1-10)

5

What’s Worrying You?

Keep your own worry journal and work it through. I picked up this tool in cognitive behavioral therapy. Inevitably, my anxiety level at the end of the exercise is less than it was when I started. I hope it works that way for you, too.